Lovely weather, lovely arenas (which only needed a bit of watering to keep the dust down - picture above) and some lovely horses – what more could you need for a great weekend of eventing at Canberra Horse Trials.
Stuart Tinney is the clear leader in the Horseland CIC3* lying on a score of 43.2 on the grey (or actually stunningly white) Pluto Mio. There is no doubt that Stuart and Pluto are really coming together as a partnership and today they pulled off a test that was both expressive and soft and well deserved of the top spot. I didn’t manage to catch up with Stuart today but when I spoke to him at the Goulburn event a couple of weeks ago he mentioned he might not run cross country this weekend, which would mean his next run is at the Australian International CCI4*. So we’ll have to wait and see if he sticks to that plan tomorrow. Natalie Blundell, riding Algebra, and Craig Barrett on Sandhills Brillaire, are lying in equal second place on a score of 48.6.
As Craig rode his test Shane Rose and Virgil were warming up in the arena next door and quite by accident the pair began riding what looked liked a ‘pas de deux’ as they rode the test ‘together’.
There was another clear leader in the Horseland CIC2* but this time it was Shane leading the field on a score of 39.2, five marks ahead of second place Annabel Armstrong and Jack in a Box. Sadly two riders were eliminated in the CIC2* when it all just got too much for their horses who got to a point in the test where they refused to move. Carolyn James, who was judging the class along with Cheryl Cameron, was upset that she had to eliminate the riders and said “I counted pretty slowly up to the time allowed and was just hoping that the horses would decide by that stage to start moving forward - but it just didn’t happen.”
Niki Rose rides Monty Who into fourth place in the CIC*
Natalie Blundell riding My Aladdin is leading the Wow Saddles CIC* which is pretty appropriate as she is sponsored by Wow Saddles, while Sandy Lucas and Diamond Snagglepuss together with Blair Richardson and My Special Obsession are equal second. Niki Rose took a break from being a mother and rode a good test on Monty Who to be lying fourth. Niki is riding the bay gelding for Kerry French, who is injured at the moment, and the pair seem to be getting along with each other really well.
The two EvA105 classes have completed their dressage and show jumping and in the ACTPA Hire EvA105 section Lauren Balcomb is leading the field after adding nothing to their first place dressage mark of 36.6. In the Northrop Consulting Engineers EvA105 section junior rider Mitchell Peulic showed the rest of the class what to do by leading the dressage on a score of 37.8 and following that with a clear show jumping round. The Barrett family were next on the leaderboard with Craig and Prue both finishing on the same dressage score of 40.2. However when it came to show jumping Prue managed a clear round on Sandhills Special, while Craig took one rail down to drop down below his wife.
Prue Barrett catches up with some reading
Christine Bates looked happy and somewhat stunned when she checked the score board of the Equiscape Photography EvA95 which revealed she had ridden Gunbarrell in to the lead on a score of 32.4. A clear round show jumping puts her in a good position going into cross country day. Meanwhile Sam Lyle who did a lovely test on Satchmo (in between pushing his young baby Ava around in her buggy) had to be content with second place and a score of 43.8. Jessica Rae leads the Pine Ridge Agistment EvA section on a score of 44.4 but with less than five marks between first to fifth time tomorrow on cross country will be very influential.
A preliminary rider tackles the tricky, twisty show jumping track
Thea Horsley and Stirling James have an overnight lead of 11 marks in the Wallaroo Equestrian EvA junior class. Lying on a dressage score of 39 Thea went clear round the twisty show jumping track and will be hoping to pull off a second win in a fortnight as the pair recently won an EvA95 class at Lynton.
